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Watched it last night (though I didn't pay...shame on me for being a bootlegger) and I also made my girlfriend watch it (she likes stupid movies like 27 Dresses and Monster in Law) and we ended up discussing it for an hour afterwards. Probably the most intellectual discussion I've had with her in a long time, and this great film was responsible.
Gus Van Sant is officially the most up and down director there is. I love Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester and Milk, the rest of his canon is drivel. He did a brilliant job on this, it really felt like 1970s SF (as I could tell, didn't really see SF until the 80s as I was born in '81 and moved to the bay in '83.) and it was hard to tell what was real footage and what was movie footage. It had funny moments to break the tension, it was suspenseful and it was profoundly well acted. Franco, Hirsch, Luna, Penn and Brolin were all phenomenal. Sean Penn deserves an Oscar for this, a truly transformative performance.
As for the gay scenes, while a little uncomfortable to sit through (especially seeing Franco being gay after watching Pineapple Express and Freaks and Geeks recently) were important to show for the sake of the movie's authenticity. They actually glossed over Milk's sex life, most likely to make it so mainstream audiences could handle it and to keep from tarnishing the image of Harvey Milk.
Unless you are totally homophobic, this should be at the top of your must-watch list for the awards season. To me, this is superior to Malcolm X (the Spike Lee film) in almost every way as a biopic of a civil rights leader.
An excellent film on this subject is the documentary "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk".
It was shot during the actual events and ALL the footage is real.
This movie is a spectacular coverage of the Milk killing. Well done, well acted, and very original, I loved every minute of it. It is especially relevant being released today, due to the Prop 8 defeat in California this past November. Every person should see this powerful, moving film. Excellent gay rights message. I was very moved by the film.
This movie is a spectacular coverage of the Milk killing. Well done, well acted, and very original, I loved every minute of it. It is especially relevant being released today, due to the Prop 8 defeat in California this past November. Every person should see this powerful, moving film. Excellent gay rights message. I was very moved by the film.
Agree. More people should see this movie; hopefully they'll understand the gay struggle is about civil rights and human dignity, not about simply being gay. My wife and I went to see it and thought the movie was awesome. Do go.
I saw the movie last night, great movie. I learned a lot that I did not know, like that Castro did not become the gay area that it is today till the 1970's. I know as I think about it makes sense but when I go there it just seems like it should of been that way fore ever lol
I will say one thing that I think he did wrong was make a deal over the gay rights proposal and the shelter one when he knew nothing about the other bill. I know that is a minor mistake but one that could of been avoided if he had been up on all the bills in front of him and it seems like that one bill caused the riff between the two. Any thoughts on that?
My wife and I saw Milk yesterday, and - having seen all the Oscar nominees for Best Picture now - we both agreed that Milk would be our pick for the top award.
Among other virtues (great acting, writing, photography, etc.), I thought it did an excellent job of humanizing gays and the gay lifestyle; in fact, more effective in that regard than anything I've ever watched or read. You really came to feel for the charaters and understand them, not because of their sexual orientation, but just as people. Sure, at first the kissing and sex scenes were sort of uncomfortable, but by the end of the film they seemed inconsequencial, as they should be, IMO. If a single two hour film can break down the phobias and prejudices it takes most of us a life time to acquire, it must be a great film.
Gus Van Sant is officially the most up and down director there is. I love Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester and Milk, the rest of his canon is drivel...
I thought his film Last Days was phenomenal. You've got to give him credit for attempting something different. Milk was incredibly done and well worth seeing. As usual, Penn was brilliant. (And I could not believe that was Emile Hirsch!)
Lots of times I'll watch a movie and think to myself, wow, good movie.
This week I watched Milk and thought wow, great movie.
Everything about it was seamless, well-crafted, neatly put together, and so moving.
The acting, all around, was superb.
I've never been a huge Penn fan, but he *so* deserved his Oscar for this performance.
ETA:
I was living in San Francisco during the latter half of 1976, and it's interesting to watch this film and see how far we've come (though of course we still have a long way to go...)
Last edited by BlueWillowPlate; 03-26-2009 at 11:12 AM..
We lived in SF in the 70’s during the time the movie took place. Besides having some gay friends who lived in the Castro District, we had no connection to the Gay Community or it’s issues and concerns.
We had no TV, did not read the newspaper, and only listened to the Classical and Jazz stations on the radio. We only knew of current events if we happened to glance at the newspaper vending machines when we went into the grocery store. A couple of politicians getting shot, regardless of their politics, was not an important event in our lives and did not impact us one way or the other.
But the movie brought tears to my eyes and I felt like I lived it, had taken part in the events, that I had personally known Harvey Milk, and that he was a great hero of the Civil Rights Movement.
The bottom line is that “Milk” was a great movie, and I have changed tremendously over the last 35 years.
Another great performance by Sean Penn, what a surprise. At Close Range, Dead Man Walking, State of Grace, I Am Sam, Hurly Burly, Carlito's Way, Mystic River, we should get it by now. Sean Penn is one of the best film actors of all time.
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